More 25- to 30-year-olds staying with their parents: Belgium among EU frontrunners

The number of young adults staying at their parents' home until a later age, is growing, figures supplied by Eurostat (the EU's statistics office) show. The increase in Belgium is more outspoken than in its neighbouring countries. In fact, the Belgian hike is only beaten by Ireland.

Michaël Torfs

Sat 17 Nov 2018 11:27

In Belgium, 1 in 3 of those aged between 25 and 30 are still living with their parents. This number is comparable to Germany, but it's significantly less than in the Netherlands and France, where only 20 percent of this age category hasn't moved out yet. The average for the whole of the EU was at 42 percent last year, compared to 38 percent in 2010.

The Belgian number saw a sharp rise over the past 8 years (the statistics apply to 2010 and 2017), climbing from 21 to 32.7 percent. This makes Belgium one of the European frontrunners, together with countries like Spain, Ireland and Cyprus. In Ireland, the number of 25- to 30-year-olds still living at home surged, starting at 36 percent in 2010 to reach 47.4 percent last year.

In Belgium, the trend applies more to men than to women

Experts point at expensive real estate prices, and the fact that young adults prefer a place which has been fully refurbished. This makes it, of course, more expensive. At the same time, Belgium was hit by an economic crisis as well, while the government cut down on all kinds of benefits, including unemployment benefits for those who just graduated.

Their are also major difference between northern and southern/eastern countries in Europe. In Norway, Sweden and Finland it's exceptional to be living at the home where you grew up for those aged between 25 and 30, while this is quite common in Croatia, Greece, Spain or Italy. Scandinavia has financial benefits for those deciding to create their own home.

The lowest numbers are found in Denmark (4%), Finland (6.6%) and Sweden (9%). The highest numbers apply to Croatia (75.4%), Greece (72.3%) and Malta (71%).